Carton for storing and loading merchandise display cards



A ril 11, 1967 F. R. PALM, JR 3,

CARTON FOR STORING AND LOADING MERCHANDISE DISPLAY CARDS Filed Jan. 15, 1965 l5 l8 FIG. I

I 25 I l 12 4 I l I I0 n4 ll 15 I 3 I8 3| |O\ 26 :2

l I I I2: H u FIG-3 I Q 26 25 I I l N I 1 I H INVENTOR FLOYD R-PALM JR. IJ

' 28 ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,313,407 CARTGN FOR STORHNG AND LQADING MERCHANDISE DISkLAY CARDS Floyd R. Palm, Jr., Rockford, 131., assignor to National Lock Co., Rockford, 111., a corporation of Delaware Filed Jan. 15, 1965, Ser. No. 425,761 4 Claims. ((11. 20665) The present invention relates to a novel carton for storing articles which are to be displayed in a store on suitable hangers such as a pegboard and more particularly to the carton construction for storage and alignment of items displayed in bubble-pale or on merchandise display cards with the cards being readily fed and aligned onto a display rack or hanger directly from the carton with a minimum of time and effort.

The maintenance of a display rack by retailers or by rack jobbers is a major cost item because it gene-rally requires a substantial amount of time to hang up individual items on display hooks. The present invention provides a storage and dispensing carton or package that greatly simplifies and speeds up the refilling of display racks with individual items and thus substantially reduces the cost of maintaining the racks in a store.

An important object of the present invention is the provision of a carton or package for merchandise display cards which will provide a soldier course of the cards with the slots therein to receive the display rack in accurate vertical alignment in the carton. The carton is preferably formed of a single-faced corrugated board to facilitate arranging and vertically aligning and maintaining the display cards so aligned for subsequent plural removal. Each card has an elongated horizontally arranged opening or slot adjacent the upper edge of the card and a centrally arranged notch in the opening or slot to receive a hook for display in a retail store. The carton carries the display cards with the slots at the upper edge in the same relative position and all the cards are arranged and aligned in generally parallel relationship.

Another important object of the present invention is the provision of a carton having an opening in the end of the box to provide ready access for the display hook or hanger to the slots in the display cards in which the items such as hardware, etc. are enclosed for display such as in a transparent bubble or blister. One end wall of the carton is reduced in height to a point below the slots in the cards so that this wall does not interfere with insertion of the display hook or hanger into the carton to remove the desired number of display cards. Also, the top or lid of the carton is provided with a depending flap that is tucked behind the first or adjacent card and closes the opening created by the reduced end wall for shipping.

A further object of the present invention is the provision of a carton in which the display cards are arranged in a spaced soldier course or vertical alignment so that price labels can be readily aflixed thereto in the upper righthand corner of the cards without the necessity of removing the cards from the box. This operation is an important pre-requisite to the feeding of the cards onto the hook or rack, although the items or cards could be prepriced at the factory either before or after packaging in the carton.

Further objects are to provide a construction of maximum simplicity, efiiciency, economy and ease of assembly and operation, and such further objects, advantages and capabilities as will later more fully appear and are inherently possessed thereby.

In the drawing:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a single-faced corrugated board carton constructed in accordance with the present invention, the lid being opened to show the contained plurality of display cards arranged in vertical alignment for ready removal.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the carton from the 0pposite end and showing a display hanger o-r hook to be inserted into the carton and through aligned slots in the display cards for their removal.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a display hanger or hook with plural display cards thereon.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged partial top plan view with the carton wall in cross section showing the soldier course of the display cards and their aligned arrangement in the corrugated board.

FIG. 5 is a side elevation-a1 view of another form of display hook which is mounted on a pegboard for display purposes.

Referring more particularly to the drawing in which is disclosed an illustrative embodiment of the present invention, a novel carton 10 constructed according to the present invention is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 formed of a single-faced corrugated board. The carton is formed from a sheet of corrugated board with a front wall or panel 11, a rear wall or panel 12, end walls or panels 13 and 13 a bottom wall 14, and a lid 1-5. Suitable overlapping end flaps such as at 16 (see FIG. 1) are provided to adhesively secure the carton together, and a flap 17 is provided at the upper edge of end wall or panel 13 and the top panel 15 is provided with an elongated flap 13 which is tucked in between the front wall panel 11 and the contained display cards 19. The front wall panel 1'1 is shown provided with a thumb cut-out 21 to facilitate opening the lid of the carton.

The display cards 19 shown as of the transparent bubble o-r blister type each include a display card 22 with an item of hardware or other item to be displayed which is enclosed and sealed within a plastic bubble or blister 23. The plastic is a thin transparent material so that the item carried can be clearly viewed by a prospective purchaser. Adjacent the top of each card is an elongated horizontal slot 24 with a centrally arranged notch 25 therein. The slot 24 is utilized for hanging the display card 19 on a hanger or hook such as the generally U-shaped hook or hanger 26 which is provided at the forward end with an upwardly bent or angled portion 27 to retain the display cards on the hook of the display rack. The opposite end of the rack has appropriate means (not shown) to mount the rack on a pegboard or other supporting surface. The central notch 25 is utilized where a single arm or hook 28 carries the display cards.

The corrugated board on the front and rear wall panels 11 and 12 of the carton provides interior mounting grooves 29 (see FIG. 4) into which the edges of the display cards 19 are received to retain the cards in an aligned upright position and in parallel relation to facilitate their removal.

The end wall or panel 13 is reduced in height compared With end wall panel 13 as clearly seen in FIG. 1 to provide access to the slots in the display cards 19. To present a completely closed container or carton for shipping and storage, a depending end flap 31 projects from the top panel 15 of the carton and is folded downwardly along the fold line 32. The flap 31 is of a sufficient depth so that it covers the opening 33 left by the reduced end wall or panel 13* and can be tucked between the end wall or panel 13 and the display card 19 adjacent to this end wall or panel.

When some or all of the display cards 19 are to be placed upon a display rack or hanger 26, the carton 19 is opened by lifting the lid 15 which also lifts the depending flap 31 to expose the opening 33 at the reduced end wall or panel 13 The end having the opening 33 is then faced toward the wire hanger 25 and the carton moved toward and parallel to the hanger with the end of the hanger guided and threaded through the aligned slots 24 until all or the requisite number of display cards are positioned on the hanger. Then the carton is lowered relative to the hanger to withdraw the display cards 19 until the latter are free of the grooves 29 formed by the corrugated board, and then the carton can be reclosed or, if empty, thrown away.

Although a carton of single-faced corrugated board is disclosed in the drawing and preferably in view of the aligning feature of the corrugations which retain the display cards aligned whether the carton is completely or only partially filled, it is not intended to limit the invention thereto. Also, although so-called bubble or blisterpak display cards are shown, the novel carton of the present invention is suitable for other types of display cards capable of being hung or suspended on a display rack, hook or hanger.

Having disclosed my invention, I claim:

1. A carton for storing and loading plural merchan dise display cards on a display hanger where each display card includes an elongated slot adjacent the top of the card and with the slots of adjacent cards in horizontal alignment, comprising a carton formed of a singlefaced corrugated board having front, bottom, rear and end panels and a pivoted lid all joined together to form a closed carton, the corrugations on the interior surface of the carton positioning the display cards in the carton in a soldier course, one of said end panels being of less height than the depth of the carton to provide an end opening between the upper edge of said end panel and the lid, said lid having an elongated front fiap and a depending end flap adapted to cover the end opening formed by said end panel of reduced height, said opening providing access of a display hanger into the carton and through adjacent aligned slots in the display cards and suspending the plural display cards removed from the carton.

2. A carton as set forth in claim 1, in which said depending end flap on the lid is of a depth greater than the reduction in height of the end panel so that the flap is adapted to be tucked between the reduced end panel and the adjacent display card when the lid is in closed position.

3. A carton as set forth in claim 1, in which the merchandise is positioned and displayed within a plastic bubble on the display card with the bubbles spacing the cards in the carton in parallel relation.

4. A carton for storing and facilitating loading contained multiple merchandise display cards onto a display hanger, consisting of an elongated carton providing an enclosure having imperforate front, bottom and rear panels, imperforate end panels and an imperforate lid, one end panel being of the same height as the front and rear panels and provided with an inwardly folding flap and the opposite end panel being of less height than the front and rear panels to provide an elongated horizontally disposed end opening between the upper edge of said opposite end panel and the lid, said lid including an elongated front flap and an imperforate depending end flap of a depth greater than the depth of said opening and covering said opening when the lid is closed.

References Iited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,903,461 4/1933 Keller.

2,835,594 5/1958 Felt et al.

2,967,611 1/1961 Bolinger 20657 3,148,770 9/1964 Cosman 206 X THERON E. CONDON, Primary Examiner. MARTHA L. RICE, Examiner. 

1. A CARTON FOR STORING AND LOADING PLURAL MERCHANDISE DISPLAY CARDS ON A DISPLAY HANGER WHERE EACH DISPLAY CARD INCLUDES AN ELONGATED SLOT ADJACENT THE TOP OF THE CARD AND WITH THE SLOTS OF ADJACENT CARDS IN HORIZONTAL ALIGNMENT, COMPRISING A CARTON FORMED OF A SINGLEFACED CORRUGATED BOARD HAVING FRONT, BOTTOM, REAR AND END PANELS AND A PIVOTED LID ALL JOINED TOGETHER TO FORM A CLOSED CARTON, THE CORRUGATIONS ON THE INTERIOR SURFACE OF THE CARTON POSITIONING THE DISPLAY CARDS IN THE CARTON IN A SOLDIER COURSE, ONE OF SAID END PANELS BEING OF LESS HEIGHT THAN THE DEPTH OF THE CARTON TO PROVIDE AN END OPENING BETWEEN THE UPPER EDGE OF SAID END PANEL AND THE LID, SAID LID HAVING AN ELONGATED FRONT FLAP AND A DEPENDING END FLAP ADAPTED TO COVER THE END OPENING FORMED BY SAID END PANEL OF REDUCED HEIGHT, SAID OPENING PROVIDING ACCESS OF A DISPLAY HANGER INTO THE CARTON AND THROUGH ADJACENT ALIGNED SLOTS IN THE DISPLAY CARDS AND SUSPENDING THE PLURAL DISPLAY CARDS REMOVED FROM THE CARTON. 